Quality over Quantity
by Laora
Summary: I was his friend, once. And even if we've gone our separate ways, I will always remember.


**_10/8/12: _**_Just FYI, this story is—well—old XD;; I'm probably not going to delete it, or get around to editing it to my liking, so...I hope you enjoy it all the same? Or else read some of my newer stuff before deciding I'm a terrible author and moving on XD_

_Thanks so much for checking this out regardless! I really do appreciate it :)_

* * *

My name is Livia White.

I moved to Little Whinging when I was ten years old. Being the shy and less-than-outgoing person that I was, I rarely had any friends. People mostly referred to me as "That one girl - you know? The one that never talks?" or the like. I only had one true friend in the entire world, but after I moved away, I did not see her again for a very long time, though we sent letters back and forth for about a year. Her name was Hermione Granger.

When I moved to Little Whinging, I started school like every other kid. I was terrified - I was in a new town, at a new school, and I knew nobody. Furthermore, everyone seemed to have friends already, and was unwilling to let me in to their clique.

Everyone, that is, but one boy. His name was Harry Potter.

Harry seemed to be worse off than I was. From what I gathered from my other classmates, his parents had been killed in a car crash nine years previously, and he lived with his aunt and uncle. Harry had a very strange lightning scar on his forehead, which I assumed was a souvenir of the car crash.

Some souvenir, eh?

So as the days went by and I still had no friends, I began to talk to Harry. He seemed pleased that I wanted to be his friend, but he warned me that I would never hear the end of it from his cousin, Dudley.

Dudley Dursley. As the biggest - literally - bully in school, he apparently terrorized anybody and everybody who so much as said "hello" to poor Harry. I learned this the hard way in mid-September, when he and his gang cornered me on the playground after school.

"Why are you hanging out with _Potter_?" Dursley asked me. I was terrified; he was about a foot taller than me, and at least three times my width.

"Because he didn't have any friends," I said, acting much braver than I felt.

"Why would you want to hang out with that _freak_?" Dursley asked, spitting out the last word as if it were vulgar. Ignoring Harry, who was frantically shaking his head behind Dursley, wide-eyed, I said,

"He's not a freak, _Dursley_, and you have no right to decide who my friends are." The whole playground was silent. Apparently nobody had ever stood up to Dudley Dursley before.

He stood there a moment before moving down to face me eye-to-eye. "I'm letting you off easy this time, White, 'cause you're new here. But it is a _school rule_," he emphasized the last two words, "That nobody hangs out with my freak of a cousin!"

"Really? Was it a school rule passed by the school board? Does the superintendent know about it?"

Dursley stared at me stupidly. He evidently had no idea what the school board or superintendent was, or that they even existed.

"I can be friends with Harry if I want to, and nobody, least of all, _you_, Dursley, can stop me."

That was the last thing I remember before darkness fell, and the world was silent.

I woke up in a bed that I recognized as my own. Looking around blearily, I saw my mum and dad sitting next to me.

"Livia!" Mum shrieked, after realizing that I was awake. "Are you all right?"

"I think so," I said thickly, and then noticed the throbbing in my head. "My head hurts."

"Well, considering that punch Dursley gave you, I wouldn't be surprised," my father said angrily. "That was yesterday afternoon; right now it's 8:00 in the morning."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Dursley punched you, and you blacked out. Then somebody ran and got the principal, who gave Dursley a month's worth of detentions, after his week of in-school-suspensions."

"Is Harry alright?" I asked. Seeing the blank looks I was receiving, I elaborated. "Harry Potter, Dursley's cousin?"

"I haven't heard anything, but I can't honestly say that I know," Mum said, "When you go back to school, you can know for sure."

"I'm going back tomorrow," I said decisively. "I don't want to stay home all this time and miss Dursley-free school!"

Mum and Dad exchanged glances. "Will you be well enough by tomorrow?"

"Of course I will!" I said, and would not back down until they finally relented.

When I went back to school the next day, my classmates treated me like some sort of hero. Nobody in the history of our class had ever stood up to Dursley before, and me doing so made me an instant celebrity. People actually said "Hi, Livia," to me in the hall, instead of completely ignoring me. Everybody, that is, but Harry.

He seemed to think that it was his fault that Dursley had knocked me out. No matter how many times I said that it wasn't, he would not change his mind.

"Livia," he said to me at lunch on the last Dursley-free day of school, "Dudley will just keep abusing you if you hang out with me! I don't want you hurt because of me!" he said, tears in his green eyes, "My aunt and uncle will not keep him from hurting you again, and I don't want to take that risk! Please, Livia!"

"Harry," I said stubbornly, "I don't care about Dursley! You're one of the only true friends I've ever had. I don't want to lose you!"

"It'll be better for both of us this way," Harry continued, "Dudley will just keep getting worse if you're my friend!"

"I told you, I don't care about - "

"I know you don't care about Dudley, but I care about you! You're one of the only people who has ever been nice to me for the past nine years, but it needs to stop, otherwise Dudley will hurt you even more!"

I opened my mouth to argue, but Harry stopped me. "I am wiling to give up the only real friendship I've had for your safety. We can't hang out together any more." And he stood up and walked away before I could say anything else.

We seemed to have reached a truce; we were civil to each other, but not friendly enough to get beaten up by Dursley. When he came back from sitting in a kindergarten classroom for a week, he seemed pleased that, once again, nobody was talking to Harry.

The months went by, and soon it was February. I still did not have any real friends.

In math class one day, the teacher said something that two people in the class knew to be wrong - Harry and I. We both raised our hands to correct her, but she called on Harry first. "Mr. Potter?"

""Don't you only flip the fraction when you divide, not when you multiply?" he said, "and then, after you flip it, you multiply them!"

"No, Mr. Potter, you must also flip the fraction when you multiply."

"But the whole reason you flip the fraction is to inverse it, isn't it? So it'd be redundant to flip the multiplication one, then it would be division, so you'd just have to flip it again!"

However, Mrs. Trist was not to be convinced. The entire class knew that Harry was right, but was too scared to support him, as Dursley was also in our class.

Harry was getting frustrated after five minutes of arguing. Mrs. Trist was just about to yell something about detention when -

Her hair turned blue!

I have never seen an old lady scream like that. Personally, I think it would have been funnier if her bangs were shorter, and she did not know of her predicament. But, as it was, she knew exactly what had happened.

What shocked us even more was when Mrs. Trist pulled her hair _off _of her head! Forgetting completely about detention for Harry, or indeed, that she even had a class, she ran screaming out of the room while our class roared with laughter.

Mrs. Trist's wig was the only thing the school talked about for the next week. When she did return, she again had blonde hair, and was just as strict and stubborn as ever.

For some reason, she blamed Harry for the wig incident, but everybody knew that there was no possible way he could have done it, as he was sitting in his seat the entire time. Nobody knew how it had happened, but everybody thought it was brilliant.

The rest of the year passed uneventfully, and soon it was summertime. I only saw Harry once, and that was from a distance. We were both in the reptile house at the zoo, when something amazing happened.

Harry seemed to be examining the boa constrictor. When Dursley ran over and knocked Harry aside, the glass of the exhibit disappeared! I was just as terrified as everyone else when the huge snake got out and began getting away. As far as I know, however, it didn't attack anyone.

But how did the glass disappear?

Come August, when we drove by the Dursley's house one day, all the windows and doors were boarded up, but their car was still in the drive. I vowed to ask Harry why the next time I saw him.

It never happened.

Harry had said that he was going to Stonewall High, while Dursley was going to Smeltings. I know for a fact that Stonewall's uniform is completely gray, so when I saw Harry in the Dursley's car heading to the train station, why was he in a blue shirt and jeans? Things didn't add up.

I saw next to nothing of Harry for the next few years, him coming back only for two months at the maximum every summer. Five years after Harry disappeared to some unknown boarding school, strange things began to happen. New bridges collapsed and hurricanes suddenly appeared on sunny days. Nothing made sense anymore.

Worst of all were the killings that continuously happened. Two girls, twins, in our class, disappeared over Christmas break one year. Nobody ever saw them again.

The world seemed to be in chaos, and it seemed as if World War III had begun, at least to us. But none of the other countries in Europe seemed to be having mass murders and impossible happenings…

This chaos continued for over three years, and still nobody knew who was committing these horrendous crimes.

One July morning, I woke up rather early. Deciding to get some breakfast, I walked downstairs. Grabbing the newspaper from the front step, I unfolded it as I made my way to the kitchen.

I never made it.

On the front page of the paper was the headline,

_"Prime Minister Says that War is Finally Over"_

The article said,

" '_This invisible war that has shadowed us for the past three years is finally over,' the Prime Minister said in a speech last night, 'The perpetrator of these horrible crimes has been found and killed at last, and the country is at peace once more.' When asked how he knew of this, the Minister refused to say anything. His secretary, Kingsley Shacklebolt, was also unavailable for comment. The Minister…(Continued on page 3)"_

I did not bother to read the rest of the article. All that I cared about was on the front page. "Mom! Dad!" I yelled up the stairs.

They came down, looking both exhausted and anxious. "Livia, what is it?"

"Read this," I said, grinning, handing them the newspaper. Once they had read the entire article, their faces split into grins as well.

"This is wonderful!" my father exclaimed. "Now…" but he never finished his sentence.

A snowy owl flew in through the window directly at me. I screamed and ducked, but the owl did not attack me; on the contrary, it simply dropped a package at my feet and went into the kitchen to sit on the table.

I shakily picked up the small parcel, and read the outside:

"_To Miss Livia White,_

_Because she deserves to know._

_-HP"_

My eyes widened. I only knew one person with those initials… "This is from Harry," I breathed.

"Harry?" my mother asked, confused.

"Harry Potter, I went to primary school with him, remember? And Dursley knocked me out because I was his friend?"

It took them a while to do so, in that time I had walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, stroking the owl. It hooted.

My parents walked in. "Well?" my father prompted, "Aren't you going to open it?"

I nodded, and with shaking fingers, opened the package. Two things fell out-a piece of very thick and yellow paper, and a newspaper. I picked up the paper first, and it read,

"_Livia,_

_I hope you remember me; it's been nine years. I know you're probably wondering what's going on, as this has been delivered to you by an owl, and on parchment. I know I have a lot of explaining to do, but I must ask one thing of you first - please do not show this letter or the newspaper article to anybody, including your parents…"_

I glanced up at my mum and dad, who were looking at me curiously. "Harry says nobody but me can read these," I said, gesturing at the letter and newspaper.

"Why?" Mum asked warily.

"Dunno, he didn't say…" and I continued reading Harry's letter.

"…_I really must thank you for being my friend all those years ago, when nobody else would. I don't think I ever thanked you properly for that._

_I'm sure you know that there has been a war going on for the past three years. __I myself helped to conclude it._

_You're still probably still wondering what I'm talking about. I never did properly explain._

_Livia, I am a wizard._

Apparently my face expressed my shock, for my mother said, "Livia, honey, what's wrong?" I just shook my head and kept reading.

"_I wouldn't blame you if you didn't believe me, but it's true. You were probably wondering why the Dursleys boarded up their house the summer after we completed primary school. They were attempting to stop the acceptance letters that came for me from Hogwarts, the magic school I went to._

_But I eventually found out, and, to cut a long story short, went to Hogwarts. That's where I've been for the past seven years. I've made some spectacular friends, Ron Weasley, his sister Ginny, and Hermione Granger being three of them. There's more about all four of us in the newspaper article in this package._

My mouth was hanging open by this time. Harry knew Hermione?

"_You know how I said that my parents died in a car crash? That was a lie, but I didn't know it at the time. They were actually murdered by Lord Voldemort, who also attempted to kill me, but failed. Instead, he was nearly killed, and I became famous in the wizarding world as the "Boy Who Lived."_

_When I was fourteen, Voldemort returned. And a year after that, this war started. In it, I have lost more than you could ever imagine - my godfather, mentor, and countless friends and acquaintances were killed in the past two years. Ron's brother Fred was killed in the final battle._

_Two days ago, Voldemort breached Hogwarts and a battle began. I myself fought Voldemort, and finally defeated him. All of his followers are now in prison. I have become famous, once again, as the "Man Who Saved." Like I have said, we have paid a great price for our victory._

_And yet, life goes on. I have a fiancé - Ron's sister - and Ron and Hermione are also engaged._

_I'm going to stay at the Dursley's for a week or so, if you would like to say 'hi' to me. I daresay that Dudley will not bother you again, seeing as I can now turn him into a canary in a second._

_Best wishes,_

_Harry"_

My eyes were filled with tears as I picked up the newspaper entitled _"The Daily Prophet"._ The front page was completely devoted to a-moving!-picture of Harry and two others, who I assumed were Ron and Hermione, and an article. The headline read,

"_He Who Must Not Be Named Gone for Good"_

"_Yesterday, an epic battle took place on the Hogwarts grounds between the people of the Light, led by none other than Harry Potter, and the Dark, led by You Know Who himself._

_Potter and the Dark Lord immediately sought each other out, and began one of the most intense duels in the history of our world. After nearly an hour of fighting, Potter got the upper hand and cast the fateful Killing Curse. Within a second, the great Dark Lord was dead at Potter's feet._

_Immediately all of the Death Eaters tried to flee, seeing their fallen master. However, they are now sentenced to life terms in Azkaban, where the Dementors have been re-instated._

_Potter was immediately bombarded with questions and admirers, but he shrugged them off and pulled a Mr Ronald Weasley, a Miss Ginevra Weasley, and a Miss Hermione Granger from the crowd, and brought them to the front._

"_I owe everything to these three," he said, "If it weren't for them, I would not have made it through my Hogwarts years, let alone survive the search I took on for Voldemort's Horcruxes this year…"_

_Horcruxes are created only by killing another human being, and then splitting his or her soul and putting part of it into another object. According to Potter, that is why You Know Who did not die on October 31, 1981, when his curse rebounded on him instead of killing Potter._

"_I owe a lot of people so much," Potter said in his speech, "I owe my godfather, Sirius Black, who was killed three years ago saving my life. If he had not been there, my friends and I would have died._

"_I owe Albus Dumbledore more than I can say. He was always there when I needed him, and gave wise and sage advice to anyone who needed it. When he died two years ago, it was like losing Sirius all over again._

"_And finally, to all of my friends; they have helped me more than anyone else in the world. Ron helped me to live and make up predictions for our Divination classes, and Hermione was always there to get us out of tight corners and to keep us from getting expelled. And Ginny…Ginny taught me how to love. There is no greater gift than that._

"_There are many more people I should thank, but this speech is longer than it should be already. I just have to say, in my parting words, to never give up on someone just because of what others think about them. Never, _ever _give up on anybody. (For more information, see page 6)"_

Slowly, I put down the paper and stared at the table. Harry had one of the worst lives I could imagine, and yet he still found time to write to a childhood friend that he hadn't seen in nine years!

"Livia, honey?" my father asked hesitantly.

"I'm going over to Harry's later," I said after a few moments, "and please, don't read either of these," I gestured at Harry's letter and the newspaper.

"Of course," my mother said, confused. "Will Harry be at his aunt's and uncle's?"

"He said he would." I turned to the owl. "I'm assuming you belong to Harry?" It hooted. "Can you bring a letter back to him?" It hooted again. "Excellent, just give me a minute…" and I raced upstairs to get paper and pen.

"_Harry-_

_I find your story hard to believe, but I have to admit that it makes sense. I'm going to come 'round your house a bit after lunch, is that all right with you?_

_And are your friends going to be there? I would really like to meet them._

_See you soon,_

_Livia"_

"Right," I said, rolling up the paper. "Can you bring this back to Harry?" the owl hooted, took the paper, and flew out of the window.

"Now, about breakfast…" I said, smiling.

Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Ginerva Weasley were sitting in Harry's bedroom, talking, or to be more specific, arguing. Harry had sent the package to Livia a while ago, and Hermione and Ginny were fuming.

"I knew her in primary school!" Harry said rather impatiently, "She was the only one that was ever kind to me!"

"I don't care if you knew her, this is still a breach of the Statute of Secrecy! You could get called into the Ministry for this!"

"Hermione," Ron said, "Do you really think the Ministry would take him in? He's saved the world two times now!"

Ginny sniffed. "But that's not the point! Do you really think she should know?"

"Yes," Harry said firmly, just as Hedwig flew back in through the window. "Excellent, here's her reply…" he read it quickly. "She's coming after lunch. You two can pass your verdict then, all right?"

I was trembling slightly as I walked the mile to Harry's house. How different would he be? Would Hermione remember me at all?

I was soon on the front doorstep of 4 Privet Drive, and I knocked apprehensively. Half a minute later, the door opened. It was Harry. His face split into a grin when he saw me. "Livia!" he hugged me warmly, and I returned it. When we pulled apart, we looked each other up and down. Harry was much more muscular than I remembered him being, but he also looked much older than nineteen.

"You look…" I began.

"Older?" Harry laughed. I grinned sheepishly. "Don't worry about it, I expect I'm going to get that a lot. But even with my life, I wouldn't exchange it for the world…" He led me up the stairs to his bedroom, and opened the door. When I walked in, all I could do was stare.

His bedroom was, to put it bluntly, _strange_; it had a large cage with his owl sitting in it on his desk, and his room was cluttered with many strange objects I had never seen before.

But what really attracted my attention were the three people sitting on his bed. Two, who I assumed were the Weasley siblings, had flaming red hair. The other woman had thick brown hair. All of them turned around when we entered. The man, who I assumed was Ron, immediately sprang up and shook my hand. "I'm Ron Weasley," he said enthusiastically. I couldn't help but grin.

"Livia White."

I noticed that the two women were staring at me calculatingly. At the mention of my name, however, the brown-haired one gave a little squeak and said, "I know you!" She sprang up, pushed Ron aside, and embraced me in a tight hug. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"I never thought I'd see you again!" I said, returning her hug happily.

Harry, Ron, and the red-headed woman looked on, dumbstruck, as we began swapping tales of our childhood together.

Harry cleared his throat after a minute, and we both turned to him. "So I assume she passes your test, 'Mione?"

Hermione smiled. "You didn't tell me it was my long lost childhood friend!" she said, pushing him gently.

"And Ginny?" Harry turned to her.

"She seems nice enough," though her wide grin gave her away.

As the afternoon wore on, I became acquainted with Ron and Ginny, and re-acquainted with Harry and Hermione. By the time it was dark and I had to return home, I had come to the conclusion that four friends in the entire world was all that I needed. The old saying "Quality over quantity" was definitely true, and my friends, no matter how different they were from me, were definitely top-notch.


End file.
